Colorado Wildfires: Lightning-Sparked Fire Burns 3 Acres In Lower Waterton Canyon
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)- Crews are putting the finishes touches on a grass fire that burned three acres Tuesday near the Lockheed Martin campus in Jefferson County.
West Metro Fire spokesperson Ronda Scholting the fire was started by a lightning strike during a small but energetic thunderstorm that crossed the southern metro area in the early afternoon.
Firefighters are hiking in to the fire, which is on a steep incline. They will dig fire line around the perimeter until dark this evening. We are looking for 100% containment, however, because of safety concerns firefighters will not be on the hill after dark. pic.twitter.com/NznNVTaP85
— WestMetroFire (@WestMetroFire) June 25, 2019
By 4 p.m., the fire was out, Scholting said. About 50 firefighters from West Metro Fire Rescue, South Metro Fire Rescue, and the Rattlesnake Fire Protection District are still working to surround the burn area with a containment line.
Two helicopters responded to the operation and made drops.
We have crews on scene of a small grass fire near Lockheed Martin. Fire is about two football fields in size, no structures are threatened. Crews with @SouthMetroPIO are assisting. pic.twitter.com/t8ujDg1BdS
— WestMetroFire (@WestMetroFire) June 25, 2019
The fire was first reported at about 12:40 p.m. near the Lockheed Martin facility and the entrance to Waterton Canyon.
This is what the fire near Lockheed Martin looked like in the first few moments after crews arrived on scene. Now- no smoke is visible in the area. Firefighters are on the hill digging a fire line around the perimeter. pic.twitter.com/xm7JICjdAu
— WestMetroFire (@WestMetroFire) June 25, 2019
The fire apparently burned property belonging to the Denver Water Department.
At one point, Denver Water officials wrote that Waterton Canyon was evacuated because of the fire and canyon "closed to public access until further notice." However, West Metro's Scholting confirmed that only a portion of the lower Highline Trail and the small park in which the fire burned were, in fact, closed.
The fire did not threaten any structures and no Waterton Canyon residents were evacuated from their homes.
Wateron Canyon will reopen on Wednesday.
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